


broken like me

by catchafallingstarfish (spaceboy_niko)



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Emetophobia, Fluff, Hanahaki Disease, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Memory Alteration, yeah boys we're going there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-25 09:31:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14375973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spaceboy_niko/pseuds/catchafallingstarfish
Summary: Maybe it's better for Gavin to just forget it all. Let them cut the orchids out of his chest and start anew.And maybe it's better for Michael to just let the gardenias grow inside him. What's the point, if Gavin doesn't remember him?





	1. maybe that makes me a fool

**Author's Note:**

  * For [starlalalala](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlalalala/gifts).



> chapter titles are from 'broken' by lovelytheband
> 
> special, special thanks goes to spooks! spooks has basically been an ideas trampoline, letting me bounce ideas off her and throwing them right back at me and breaking my heart <3 <3 love you dearest!

It was with a sinking feeling in his gut that Gavin decided he was a dense bastard when it came to Michael.

He’d taken such a long time to put two and two together. Spitting out beautifully-shaped petals after recording all those old Play Pals videos? They’d tasted bloody awful, and stuck to his tongue like a bitch, but he’d somehow ignored them at the time.

Having the sudden and terrible urge to cough in the middle of Michael’s wedding vows – and he couldn’t just interrupt those, for Christ’s sake – and then throwing up a vibrant pink and white mess of champagne, rosé and flowers in the bathroom at the reception? Probably him imagining it. He’d drunk a lot.

And then he gagged on something Jeremy waved under his face and he was throwing up his lunch and choking up flowers all over the office floor.

“Dude, holy fuck,” Michael said in awe and horror as he rubbed Gavin’s back, bent double over the floor. “You good there, boi?”

The nickname made him gag and retch again, and Michael kept rubbing soothing circles.

“Did you eat a bush or something, Gav? I mean, it’s okay if you did, but if this is because of something else, I think we’re gonna need to get you to a doctor.” Jack brought over a box of tissues, and Gavin wiped his face gratefully.

Ryan gingerly crossed the room to his desk and tapped on his keyboard a bit, before grimly announcing, “Gavin, WebMD says you’re gonna die.”

“WebMD always says you’re gonna die. It’s bullshit, right? He’s okay?” Michael sounded genuinely worried, and Gavin straightened, suppressing another cough.

“I’m…not actually sure. This is what matches his symptoms the most.” A couple more clicks, and Ryan started reading aloud. “Hanahaki disease, from the Japanese words for ‘flower’ and ‘to throw up’–“

“Yeah, no shit,” Michael said irritably.

“Uh, it’s a disease where you cough up flower petals that bloom in the lungs, jeez, causing strong pain– are you feeling any pain?”

Gavin slowly shook his head. “Sometimes? Mainly when I cough.”

Ryan nodded and continued. “Hanahaki disease can develop over months or years, starting with just coughing up petals until you’re throwing up whole flowers in the final stages. Anyone willing to go through that puddle of crap to see what the flowers look like?”

The office collectively made a face.

“Alright then, moving on, causes, where are causes– oh.”

“Go on, Rye.” Gavin’s voice sounded hoarse as he rummaged around his desk for a water bottle.

“Causes are one-sided romantic love. If this love isn’t returned or made obvious to the patient that it’s returned, that’s it for you.” Ryan clicked out of the tab and sighed. “So Gavin’s in love with someone, and unless she– they? He? Whoever– returns his feelings, he’s going to die, and those flowers are looking pretty complete to me.”

“No, no, no no no no _no_.” Geoff shook his head adamantly. “You are, under no circumstances, allowed to die. The internet’ll think we killed you off, and you’ll destroy the company single-handedly. I want you out of content today and researching a cure for this shit.”

“I’ll turn in a three-page paper tomorrow, sir. D’you want Oxford or Harvard referencing?” Gavin replied drily.

“I’ll only accept MLA formatting, you know that. But, seriously, though, lemme know if you need anything, alright?”

Gavin smiled and coughed again, spitting petals into his hand. “Will do. Should I just, like– bin these or whatever?”

Geoff shrugged. “If you don’t wanna keep your barfed-up orchids, fine by me. Just empty your bin at the end of the day, the cleaners don’t need to deal with that shit.”

* * *

Michael kept glancing over as Gavin tried to stifle his coughs, quietly scrolling through whatever medical journal he had open now and pulling flowers out of his mouth.

It made him so fucking angry. There was some asshole out there, with Gavin’s heart and life-blood in their hands, and they were letting it drip through their fingers.

Gavin, vibrant happy chaotic Gavin, had been reduced to quiet, coughing pathetically and spitting flowers into his hands. His boi barely seemed like his boi anymore – barely a person.

He somehow managed to make it through the workday and cornered Geoff as he left. “Can I talk to you? About–“

Realisation dawned on Geoff’s face, and he swept Michael into an empty room. “Course, man. Get it all out.”

And Michael broke down.

“This shouldn’t happen to him! What kind of total dick is just going to take Gavin’s feelings like that and not reciprocate? That’s just– that’s fucking crazy! How could anyone not love Gav?” He clenched his fists, feeling his fingernails bite into his palms. “Geoff, whoever the bastard is, I hate them so, so much. If–“ He choked over the words, not wanting to say them. “If Gavin doesn’t find a cure, I’m going to find them and give them as much pain as they’re giving Gav.”

Geoff said nothing, only held his arms open, and Michael let himself be pulled into a hug.

Geoff’s hands rubbed comfortingly over his shoulders. “Have you told Gav any of this?”

Michael shook his head against Geoff. “Feel like it’d be a sensitive topic, y’know? Those kinda flowers have probably been growing for years. Don’t wanna dig up any old ghosts.”

Geoff nodded, and gave him a pat on the back. “Probably best until he decides a plan of action. You okay to get home?”

“Yup. Catch you tomorrow.”

Michael somehow made it out to the carpark, and sat quietly in his car for a while as he tried not to think about what the future held for Gavin.

* * *

God, but Gavin wished his search for a cure had come up empty-handed.

After his day of consulting Google, Gavin had come up with three ways his life could go.

One, he could let himself die. Choke on his own blood and these orchid stems (and that article in the deaths column hadn’t been pretty), and wait for this slowly growing garden in his lungs to just consume him.

Two, he could try confessing his love to Michael, in the hopes that the feelings would be returned. But that was utter bullshit. Michael was married, for Christ’s sake. It was obvious he’d found love there – Gavin trying to fit in there would just complicate things.

Or three. The controversial third door, behind which was pretty much a different life.

Option number three was a surgery, to open up the lungs and remove the flowers by the roots, before neatly sewing seams into the skin. That one was Gavin’s last resort. Not because of money – the surgery wasn’t cheap, but he could afford it – but because of the after-effects.

With the removal of the flowers also came the removal of the memories of the person. Free of charge.

Gavin couldn’t afford that. Not only would he lose his dearest friend, but he’d get kicked from the company faster than he could say ‘Who’s that Michael Jones guy again?’

But Geoff wanted to know everything about a cure, and so Gavin jotted down everything. Including the fact that he’d get fired in seconds.

He caught Geoff leaving from an empty room, and half-threw his notebook. Geoff fumbled it and quickly scanned down Gavin’s messy notes.

“Well, your first option’s out. We’re not letting you die, simple as that. Either you’ve got to grow a pair and tell whoever it is that you’re in love with them and you’re dying because of it, or you can get the surgery.”

Gavin’s mouth formed the shapes of the word “No!” but the rush of air sent him coughing again.

Geoff raised an eyebrow. “No to telling them, or no to the surgery, or both?”

“No to both,” Gavin croaked out. “I’d single-handedly ruin Achievement Hunter. Can’t do it.”

“Oh, Christ,” Geoff whispered. “Should’ve noticed, shouldn’t I? I’ve known you for years, and I should’ve noticed when you started pining over Michael. You’re right. You’re absolutely right.”

Gavin said nothing, only pulled Geoff into a hug and stayed there.

“Do you…want me to tell the guys anything? Like, the surgery or anything?”

Gavin shrugged.

“Alright, I’ll give them the watered-down version. And you’ll let me know if you need anything, yeah?”

“A lift home would be nice,” Gavin whispered.

“I can do that.”

* * *

Gavin didn’t show up the next morning, and Michael’s heart was filled with a terrible sinking dread until Geoff came in.

“Before you all start asking where Gavin is, I’m gonna go and pick him up in a bit. I’ve got a couple things to say on his behalf, though. First off, we’re cutting the amount of time he’s in content. He’s a bit of a wreck, and while I know that it might cause a bit of upset, it’s the least we can do for him. Second, he wanted me to tell you all that there’s a potential cure, and–"

“Then why doesn’t he fucking just go for it? Get it done and fix his shit up rather than, y’know, dying?” Michael asked angrily.

“–and while he is considering it, he thinks it could be seriously harmful to his career,” Geoff continued, talking over him. “It depends on if you want to sacrifice him being a part of Achievement Hunter or keep him around.”

The room fell into an uneasy silence.

“So…what happens now?” Jack asked quietly.

Geoff shrugged. “We keep Gav around as long as we can. As long as he’ll let us. Then we wrangle some logistics, and then hopefully, all going well, we don’t have to go to a funeral.”

Michael didn’t need to hear anymore, jamming his headphones back onto his ears and barely noticing when Geoff left the office again.

They were almost done with something, Michael didn’t know or care what, when Geoff snuck back in with Gavin in tow.

“How’re you feeling?” he asked carefully, not sure how to bring up what he wanted to say.

Gavin made a ‘so-so’ gesture. “Geoff made soup. Didn’t die.”

Michael winced at the cracks in Gavin’s voice. “Always good to hear.”

Gavin fidgeted around with his computer a bit before Michael stopped dancing around the topic.

“Look, Gavin, Geoff told us about the cure, and, well, what I wanted to know was why you think you’re gonna lose your job after it?”

“As far as I know, the cure is–“ Gavin cut himself off with a series of coughs and sighed, rummaging around the mess on his desk for some paper and a working pen.

_cure is surgery to remove flowers, but also has effect of making you forget who caused it. can’t do that and keep my job._

Michael was a little flummoxed.

“But…surely you’d want to forget them? I mean, look at yourself, Gav! You’re wasting away and your bin’s full of these stupid fucking flowers you keep coughing up! They’re causing you so much pain, and if they’re gonna do that, well, they don’t deserve you, do they? They’re not worth it, you’re better than that! And you wouldn’t get fired, this company loves you too much.”

Gavin looked flattered, smiling through cracking lips.

“Just…please, boi, just think about the surgery. If it’s not for you, then do it for me. I hate seeing my boi suffer like this.”

Gavin nodded slowly. “Alright. I’ll think.”

* * *

Michael was going to regret convincing him to get the surgery done. But there was no going back now – the date was fixed, and Gavin was sitting shotgun in Geoff’s car on the freeway.

Gavin tangled his fingers together and untangled them, half-listening to whatever was on the radio, before speaking up. “Geoff, I’m scared.”

Geoff looked worried. “You got every reason to be, buddy. This is a lot for you to get rid of. How many years were you guys friends again? Don’t answer that, that’s just me rubbing salt in the wound, I guess, isn’t it. God, what am I gonna tell him when you come back in?”

Gavin sighed at Geoff’s rambling and coughed, catching the flowers in the plastic bag in his lap. “No idea. Your problem. Don’t talk to me about it until I’m back.”

Geoff nodded. “Will do.”

They took him in, where it was clinical and clean and white, and he didn’t even object to the needle.

When he woke up (and he wasn’t quite sure how long it had been), he saw Geoff’s searching face and his Switch on the table beside his bed.

“You’re lookin’ pretty good there, kid. Don’t try talking or anything, though, the surgeons don’t want you stressing your throat out or anything. How are you feeling?”

Gavin took the notebook and pen Geoff held out.

_alright. don’t remember what i was so stressed about. breathing feels better now._

Geoff nodded approvingly. “Good, good.”

_any idea when i can come back in?_

“Not sure. We might be able to get some stuff for you to do while you’re in here doing all the speech therapy and stuff, is that okay?”

_sure. gonna miss the podcast for a bit, though. burnie’s not going to be happy._

Geoff laughed, almost uncomfortably. “Yeah. He’ll have to go through me to get you back in the office before you can talk properly. Glad you’re feeling okay now, buddy. The hospital’s got me as your main contact, so if anything happens or you need anything else, give me a buzz.”

_will do. thanks for the switch._

“No problem. You take care, now.”

Gavin waved a little goodbye as Geoff left, and settled in with Breath of the Wild.

* * *

“Great news, everyone!” Geoff announced, walking in and quickly shutting the door behind himself.

Michael swivelled around in his chair to look at him with everyone else.

“We’re getting the ceiling fixed?” Jack asked, almost deadpan.

“We keep breaking it, they won’t let us,” Ryan reasoned.

“Are we kicking Alfredo and Trevor back out of the main office?” Jeremy grinned and dodged the ball thrown at him.

Geoff rolled his eyes and threw open the door. “You know what, fuck it. Evidently you guys didn’t miss him enough.”

Michael’s heart beat faster as Gavin walked brightly into the room.

“Morning, all!”

Michael watched as Gavin scanned the room, meeting everyone’s faces with familiarity, until he got to Michael.

When he got to Michael, his face creased in confusion, but he smiled all the same.

As he was crushed in hug after hug, Michael heard him ask Geoff quietly, “So who’s the red-headed bloke? Is he new?”

Michael felt sick.

As Jack let him go for the fourth time, he turned to Michael, and opened his arms a little, just enough to invite him for a hug.

Michael all but threw himself into Gavin’s arms and sobbed. “I’m so sorry, Gav, god, I’m an idiot! How didn’t I know? Look at you, I made you do this!”

Gavin patted him cautiously on the back. “Hey, I’m back now, it’s okay.”

But Michael could hear that well-meaning but awkward tone of Gavin’s, the not-quite-PR-voice he used when he was trying to be nice to total strangers.

“It’s me. You don’t remember me,” Michael whispered into Gavin’s shoulder before a hand grabbed him and pulled him back.

“Michael, lay off him. Come on, I gotta talk to you again. You look like you need some air. The rest of you, you know what shit we need to do, fill Gav in on what’s happening, all that.”

Geoff led Michael out to the carpark by his shoulder, sat him down on a strip of curb and let him cry.

“This is all my fault,” he choked out, and Geoff rubbed his shoulder.

“It’s–“

“No, Geoff, it is. He’s been my best friend for years and I’ve been killing him for so damn long! And I never knew! I never fucking knew!” Michael shook from his anger, and leaned into Geoff. “We could’ve taken over the world together, Geoff.”

“I know.” Geoff didn’t make any move to cut their conversation off before Michael was done. “He only told me just before the op. I had no idea how to tell you. I feel like that’s something better done by the person.”

They sat together in silence on the curb, until Michael spoke up.

“I’m taking a break from this.”

“This, meaning…?”

“Achievement Hunter. Rooster Teeth. Work. I don’t know.” Michael interrupted himself with a cough, and Geoff flew into a flurry of panic.

“Whoa, hey, Geoff, it’s fine, just a tickle. But yeah, I don’t think I can work next to him without making it seem like something’s obviously wrong. I don’t know, pass me off as an intern or a stand-in for while he was gone or something. Just make it seem like I didn’t belong there.”

Geoff looked crestfallen. “I’m gonna be sad to see you go, man. We all are. It’s gonna be a lot quieter without you. But…you know, if you’re ever willing to come back, then please let me know. We’ll keep a spot open for you, you know that. But I’ll bring it up with HR for you. Maybe some time off is just what you need.”

Michael nodded. “Thanks, Geoff.”

Geoff patted him on the shoulder and leaned on him to stand up. “I’m heading back, you come back in when you’re ready, okay? Keep in touch, don’t do anything stupid.”

Michael didn’t reply.

When he heard Geoff’s footsteps retreating behind him, he opened his hand and examined the soft white petals crumpled in his palm.

* * *

Their orchids and gardenias together would have made for a lovely bunch, but Gavin’s orchids were dead in some stage of biohazard waste disposal and Michael’s were locked deep inside his chest, growing bigger blooms on what he now knew were woody stems with glossy green leaves.

He knew about the leaves because they came up when he threw up the flowers. Google told him about the stems.

As he spent the days, then the months at home, feeling things shift with every breath, the pain was doubled, tripled by the fact that he had put Gavin through this. If it didn’t hurt like a bitch every time he laughed, he would’ve laughed at the sweet revenge Gavin was getting.

And he didn’t even know it.

When not even painkillers could take the knife-edge-pain out of his chest, he drove himself to the hospital.

The four hours he spent with specialists and surgeons and psychologists was more than worth the sixteen dollars he paid for parking.

Almost a month later, he found himself packing a bag and catching a bus in so he didn’t have to leave his car in the parking lot for the entire time he was in rehab.

Once he could talk properly without too much of a raspy undertone, he called Geoff.

“Hello, stranger. How you going?”

“Not bad, not bad. Was wondering if you still had a desk somewhere for me.” Michael couldn’t keep the grin off his face.

Rather than happy, Geoff sounded doubtful. “You’re sure? Even after…?”

“After what?”

Geoff’s end was silent for a bit, as if he was thinking. “No, it’s okay. I’ll bring it up and we’ll be in touch.”

“Thanks so much, Geoff. I’ll talk to you soon. We need to catch up again sometime.”

“We do. Let’s get you back into work and then I’ll catch you up on my unexciting social life.”

As he hung up, Michael idly wondered if much had changed since he’d left.

* * *

Michael felt like a kid on the first day of school when he came back to work, bag full of everything from his desk to be re-scattered.

He knocked on the door of the Achievement Hunter office and stuck his head in. “Am I interrupting anything?”

Geoff was across from his desk in record time and crushing him in a hug. “Glad to see you, man! Desk’s all yours, unpack and we’ll catch you back up!”

Michael set down his bag in the bright chair in front of the middle desk and started unpacking. He was about a third through his bag when he got the uneasy feeling of being watched.

He turned to see an unfamiliar face in the seat to his right, a mousy-haired man with a passable beard and a nose that seemed almost comically disproportionate to the rest of him.

“Hello,” the man said in a careful British accent. “I don’t think I know you. I’m Gavin. Gavin Free.”

He stuck out his hand, and Michael shook it.

“I’m Michael Jones. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, Michael.”

Michael laughed. “You say my name funny.”


	2. think i could love you (but i'm not sure)

Gavin really liked Michael. As he settled into the office, Gavin was more than happy to show him the ropes, even though he somehow seemed like he already knew what he was doing.

He found himself trying too hard to make Michael laugh, to impress him, and Geoff picked up on it like only a father would.

“Need a lift home, Gav?” he asked as they were packing up at the end of another day.

“Sure. Bevs tomorrow evening, boi?” He smiled at Michael, who nodded.

“I’ll pick you up, yeah. Catch you tomorrow, boi!”

Gavin smiled wider and almost bounded out of the room after Geoff.

“So,” Geoff began. “You and Michael, huh?”

Gavin stopped dead in the middle of opening the car door. “I– what?”

“Gavin, I’ve known you for years. I can see when you’re trying to impress someone and-or jump their bones. The two of you have nicknames for each other, for god’s sake.”

Gavin scrunched himself down into the passenger seat. “Damn you, Geoffrey.”

“I say go for it.” The words were casual and offhand, and Gavin stared.

“What?”

“Yeah. To be honest, I think he needs it. The last relationship he had didn’t end so well. You might be what he needs.”

Gavin sat and thought all the way home.

* * *

“So, you’re going out with Gavin tomorrow night, huh?” Ryan raised an eyebrow and grinned at Michael.

“Yeah, what of it?” Michael couldn’t hide his smile at the question.

“God, you’re really sold on him. I reckon you should go for it. Really wow him tomorrow, y’know?”

“Ryan, shut up.”

“Hey, who’s still married?”

“Touché,” Michael grumbled.

Ryan’s face softened. “Really, though, I reckon you should. I think Gavin’s into you as well. Just give it a go, y’know?”

Michael hesitated. “Alright.”

“And I won’t even make fun of you for being a sickening couple.”

“Thanks, Ryan.”

* * *

Gavin felt his heart leap into his throat when his doorbell rang, and frantically smoothed his shirt and his hair before answering it.

Michael stood there, a bouquet of vibrant pink and white orchids clutched nervously to his pale-grey button-down.

“These are for you,” he said hesitantly, and awkwardly held them out.

Gavin cautiously accepted them, suddenly very aware of the surgical scars under his shirt, and held the door open a little wider for Michael. “Jeez, boi, you didn’t have to.”

Michael stood in the doorway as Gavin filled the sink with water and placed the flowers carefully in. “Not gonna bust out the Royal Doulton for them, Gav?”

“When I get home, I will! I just don’t wanna keep you waiting, is all!”

Even in his nice shirt and jeans, Gavin still felt out of place at the restaurant Michael first drove them to, and at the high-end cocktail bar they ended up at. And Michael refused to let him pay.

“Michael, c’mon, why didn’t you let me pay for my drinks?” he whined as they made their slightly tipsy way out.

“Well, a lady shouldn’t pay on the first date!” Michael said, half-jokingly.

“Then let me pay for the next one!”

Michael suddenly grew serious as he shut his car door. “You’re okay with it being a date?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? I just asked you for another one, didn’t I? D’you wanna make a time next week, or would you rather we go out this Saturday?”

“I–“ For the first time since Gavin had met him, Michael was speechless. “I can do Saturday.”

“Good.”

Gavin didn’t know he was smiling until they pulled up to his house.

“You know, I didn’t think me saying yes to another date with you would make you just that happy,” Michael commented as he walked Gavin to his door.

“Well, you make me happy.” Heart beating fast and loud in his ears, he pressed a quick kiss to Michael’s cheek. “Thank you for tonight.”

Michael grinned. “No problem. Although I do have to say, what kind of goodnight kiss is that?”

“Is this better?” Gavin asked quietly, and slung his arm around the back of Michael’s neck, pulling him in for a soft kiss.

“Much,” Michael murmured against his mouth.

They broke apart when Gavin’s porch light went out over them, and Gavin laughed quietly. “Should let you get home,” he said, still feeling the press of Michael’s lips against his.

“One for the road?” Michael asked cheekily, and Gavin rolled his eyes and obliged.

* * *

When Gavin arrived at work with Geoff a few days later, Michael noticed he looked like he hadn’t slept the previous night.

“Morning, boi. You look like death rawed you last night.”

Gavin shook his head and fished in his bag, carefully pulling out something between two sheets of wax paper. “Was up finishing this off for you.”

Michael unpeeled the paper to reveal one of his orchids, dried and pressed immaculately. “Since when did you learn how to press flowers?”

“Since you–“ Gavin was interrupted by a wide-eyed Geoff.

“Gavin, where the fuck did that come from? Anything you gotta talk to me about?” Geoff looked almost panicked at the sight of the dry flower on Michael’s desk.

Gavin looked at Michael questioningly, and they both shrugged.

“What are you so worried about, Geoff? They’re from Michael. Gave me a lovely big bunch of them on Tuesday night.”

Geoff seemed to sag with relief. “Right. Okay. I was just– okay. Michael, just…just to keep this old man alive, don’t get him orchids. You guys are gonna be the death of me, I swear.”

“Fine, I’ll buy him roses on Saturday. Do you wanna pick the colour too?” Michael asked, half-irritated.

“No, I don’t wanna be that involved in your relationship.”

“You sure you don’t want in on this?” Gavin asked teasingly, and smacked an over-exaggerated kiss on Michael’s forehead.

Geoff mimed throwing up and Michael tried very hard to forget the acrid burn of gardenias in his throat.

“But you know there are rules for romancing my adopted son, right, Michael?”

“Oh, bloody hell, Geoff!” Gavin cried, hiding his mortified face in Michael’s shoulder.

* * *

“Michael, you bastard!” Gavin yelped as Michael tackled him to the couch and peppered kisses all over his face.

He interrupted his own laughter when Michael started biting at his neck and reaching down between them to rub a palm over the front of Gavin’s shorts.

“C’mon, boi, get this off.” Michael tugged at the hem of his shirt.

Gavin happily obliged, wrestling it off over his head and baring the neat butterfly of surgical scars across his chest, fading red lines that were hairless around where the stitches had been.

Michael stared.

“Do…don’t you like my scars?” Gavin asked, terrified.

“No, no,” Michael replied, shaking his head slowly. “I just…”

Instead of finishing his sentence, Michael yanked his own shirt off as well to reveal an identical set of scars, though his were newer and hadn’t healed as much as Gavin’s had.

“You’ve got them too?” Gavin said in awe, tracing his fingers gently over the red lines and the sharply contrasting white skin.

“Yeah. Coughed up gardenias for a month because of some guy.”

Gavin laughed bitterly. “Coughed up orchids for five years because of some guy. Guess that’s why Geoff was so paranoid. God, what kind of bastard would just leave a guy like this?”

Michael shrugged. “Don’t know, don’t remember, don’t care. Got you now, don’t I? And I’m not ever gonna do that to you, I mean, five years, God. Now, where was I?”

Gavin hummed happily as Michael pressed a kiss to each side of his chest and popped his fly.

* * *

“Hey, Michael?” Gavin said nonchalantly into the mic, heart hammering in his chest as he made sure the little box was still hidden on his desk, out of sight from Michael and his webcam.

“Yeah, boi?” Michael replied, not taking his eyes off the screen. “Ryan, stop trying to kill me, you asshole!”

“Michael?” he asked again, taking it into his hand.

“What is it, Gav?”

“Look at me?”

Gavin watched as the view on Michael’s screen shifted to his character, and he laughed. “Real life, you dummy.”

He flicked the ring box open as Michael turned to face him.

“’S for you, boi.”

“What is– oh. Oh!” Jeremy swivelled in his chair to watch them and Jack peered over his monitor.

“Michael, will you marry me?” Gavin held his breath and waited.

Michael sat wide-eyed and speechless.

“Well, come on, Michael, give the guy an answer! We’ve got money– mmph!” Ryan slapped a hand over Geoff’s mouth and watched.

“…Yeah. Yeah, I will, Gav.” Michael’s face slowly broke into a wide smile as Gavin flung himself forward into his arms and kissed him.

“Called it!” Ryan crowed.

“Congratulations to the happy couple, now stop making out on camera and let’s try not to die again,” Geoff grumbled as he fished a twenty out of his wallet and slid it to Ryan.

“Can do,” Gavin said happily as he slid the ring onto Michael’s finger.

“Love you so much, boi,” Michael grinned as he turned back to his screen.

“Love you even more.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can you believe i've never written a proposal before

**Author's Note:**

> if you like this and wanna see a little more, on tumblr i'm @catchafallingstarfish for all your rt-related needs and @spaceboy-niko for anything else


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